[Ads-l] line = raffle entry

[Barretts Mail]

1. In “Foster,” Irish writer Claire Keegan writes about “lines for a raffle.” I don’t see any sort of meaningful definition of this in the OED, Wiktionary or Merriam-Webster.

p. 25
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://d-pdf.com/electronic-book/5161&ved=2ahUKEwjSufCwgZyKAxU_FjQIHcu3JGUQFnoECBkQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0bVuyn5zinxUtMN4aEYSfB

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I went down and ate a dozen macaroons and then two men came to the door selling lines for a raffle whose proceeds, they said, would go towards putting a new roof on the school.
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2. ChatGPT says: 

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In the context of a "raffle," the term "lines" typically refers to the individual tickets or entries that people buy or receive in exchange for participating. Each "line" is a separate chance to win the raffle prize.
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3. Google’s AI Overview on a search for “raffle lines” says: 

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A raffle line is a number that can be entered into a raffle. For example, "You can enter up to ten raffle lines each week". 
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4. Number 3 appears to be taken from “The Sun,” which is quoted in Collins:

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/sentences/english/raffle

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You can enter up to ten raffle lines each week.
The Sun
(2013)
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5. Looking at Google Images, this appears:
https://www.boyletoday.com/please-support-christmas-lights-draw/

It is a photo of two raffle cards, where the purchaser’s name and contact information is written on a line. Perhaps this is the origin of this meaning.

Benjamin Barrett
Formerly of Seattle, WA
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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org